Wilderness Challenge - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

         Logan arrived at the cabin with Sandra a week later and Logan took out the stitches, and proclaimed her fit.  The first thing she did when he left was to change into her swim suit and head down to the river.

         The water was invigorating, after her first intake of breath at the coldness of it.  Never again would she complain about the cold water of her apartment back home.  This was much colder.

         Also true to his word, she had just returned to the cabin from her swim when she heard the drone of the plane and hurried out of the cabin and went down to meet Bart as he stepped out.

         “Hello there.  How are you doing?”

         “Good.”

         “We heard you had an accident.”  He looked her over, and saw the signs of her recent illness.

         “It was nothing.  All part of learning to live here.”

         “You’re doing that.”  He had noticed the shelters for the chickens he saw scratching in the dirt, and the cow and her calf grazing behind the cabin.  “Did you put up the fence?”

         “Yes.  I had it done before my accident.  I hurt my shoulder.  Dr. Carmichael, one of the rangers, just gave me the green light.  I’ve been relegated to light work for the past week.”

         “What happened?”

         The memories flooded back, which she had tried to force into the back of her sub conscience.

         “If you’d rather not talk about it, that’s fine.  You’re doing well now, though?”

         “Yes.  I’m fine now, and back to doing what I’m getting paid for.  Did you bring me some more work?”

         “Yes, I did.  I also brought two milk cans as requested and some seed for crops to feed the animals.  You also have some mail forwarded through the company, along with a letter from your parents and a letter from Mr. Leonard.  I told your parents I was coming out to see you and they sent along a letter and this package.”

         She quickly unwrapped the box, and found to her delight, some oatmeal raisin cookies, which her mother had made for her.  “Would you like one?”

         He accepted it a smile on his face.  “Thank you.  I’ve always enjoyed fresh baked cookies.”

         There was also a package of cheese, and some butter.  It had been ages since she'd had either.  She opened the letter.  ‘Dear Candi; Just a little something from home.  I hope you’re doing all right.  We still hope you want to come home, but we realize that you must be enjoying your isolation from the rest of the world.  I hope you enjoy the cookies, cheese and butter.  Love Mom and Dad.’

         She put the letter aside, and looked up at him a little sheepishly.  “They want me to come home, but I really like it here.”

         “I think it agrees with you.  You’re more confident than the day I brought you out.  You’ve accomplished a lot on your own.  Mr. Mills will be impressed when I tell him.”

         “I’ve had some help.  How about lunch?  I’ve got bear meat sandwiches, on fresh baked bread, and cold milk, from my cow.”

         “Sounds very tempting.”

         Later Candi watched as the plane took off before she went back into the cabin and the work he brought her.  She put it with the rest of the work, and took out the next job on her schedule.  Her visit with Bart had been enjoyable, but it was time to get back to work.

         She was restless.  She took her rifle from the fireplace, checked the loading, took some extra cartridges, and left the cabin with Rascal at her heels.  She thought she’d find some small game for supper.  She was in the mood to try her hand at rabbit stew.

         She decided it would be a good idea, since she was hunting, to call the ranger station and let them know, so that they didn’t race over to the cabin at the first report of her rifle.  She retraced her steps into the cabin, and picked up the hand set.  “RS Tango Five, this is CM Alpha One, come in.  Over."

         “This is RS Tango Five, come in CM Alpha One.  Over,” Stan said.

         “Just thought I’d let you know I’m going to be out hunting, and not to worry.  Over.”

         “Very good.  Be careful and good hunting.  RS Tango Five signing off.”

         Logan came into the station office when he heard the radio.  “What was that all about?”

         “Miss Martin is going hunting.  She didn’t want us to worry about her.”

         Logan sloshed coffee into his mug and stared at it a long while before he turned to him.  “I saw the plane leave.”

         Stan studied Logan.  “What’s eating you?  You stare at that cup like you want to take vengeance on it.”

         “She’s too independent for a woman!  Women are supposed to be soft and delicate, dependent on someone else to look after them.  Not stubborn and rebellious.”

         Stan put his pen down and pushed aside his paperwork for the moment.  “Is that the way you want her to be?”

         “I’d like her to accept my help, yes!  But every time I go over there, she seems more distant toward me.”

         “Did you ever take into consideration that she likes being alone, and not dependent on someone else to meet her needs.  That’s what she’s out here to do, after all.”

         “Yes, but--”

         “How’s her shoulder?”

         “It’s healed nicely.  She’s got full use of it once more.”

         “So now that she’s got full use of her arm, she wants to go about providing for her own needs.  What she came here to do.”

         “I'm going up to the tower.  Hear anything from the weather bureau?”

         “Sunny, warm with pleasant winds, temperatures in the high seventies, low eighties.”

********

         Candi hunted to the north of her cabin.  With Rascal at her side, she soon spotted a large rabbit.  She took careful aim at her quarry, and soon bagged her supper.  Then she realized she had a problem.  She had no idea how to skin a rabbit, or any other animal.  She would need to call the ranger station for instructions.  She only hoped she’d be able to understand those directions over the radio.

         She entered the cabin, and headed for the radio.  “CM Alpha One to RS Tango Five.  Come in, over.”

         “This is RS Tango Five.  Come in CM Alpha One.  Over,” Logan said.

         Her knees went weak and her stomach felt strange at the sound of his voice.  “I need instructions on how to skin a rabbit.  Can you help?  Over.”

         “It would probably be easier if I show you.  Over.”

         Her hands shook at his suggestion and her voice began to quaver.  “Is that necessary?  Can’t you just tell me over the radio?  Over.”

         “It would be easier for me to teach you, than to try to explain instructions over the radio.  Over.”

         “All right.  When can I expect you?”

         “I should be there in an hour.”

         “I’ll be expecting you then.”  Since her ordeal, she was afraid of anyone who might come near the cabin.  She knew she should trust Logan, but.  She shied away from her reasons, and waited for him to get there.

         An hour later Candi heard the steady clip clop of Logan’s horse, though it sounded like more than one horse.  What if?  That was crazy.  She looked out the window and saw him before she went out to greet him.  He had also brought a horse with him.

         “Hi.  I brought you something.  I picked her out myself.  Do you like her?”

         She looked at the horse amazed and surprised.  “Mine?”

         “Yours.  I picked her out myself.”

         She gave him a doubtful look.  “My gentle mount?”

         “A mount to fit her mistress.”  He dismounted and tied the reins to the post in front of the cabin, and mounted the steps.  “Now show me that rabbit you caught.”

         For the next hour he showed her the best way to skin and clean an animal and get it ready to either cure for future use, or ready to eat, which was the case that day.

         He watched her from time to time.  “How have you been?”

         She looked up at him unaware of the fear that tinged her eyes.  “Fine.”

         “Any trouble hunting?”

         “No, why?”

         “The report of the rifle didn’t cause any undue stress on your shoulder?”

         “Why would it?  You gave me the green light.”

         He looked down at the finished rabbit, ready for the Dutch oven he saw on the stove.  “Well, I’m finished here.  I’ll be going now.  If there’s anything I can be of further service for, please don’t hesitate to call.”

         “Thank you.  You’ve been most helpful.”

         “Anytime.”  He left the cabin and headed back to the ranger station.

         She relaxed as she watched him go.

         She turned back into the cabin, and soon had a rabbit stew cooking, without vegetables, but she had made a dumpling instead to go with it.  She let it bake in the Dutch oven on top of the stove, and went out to take a better look at the horse Logan brought her.

         She ran her hands down her legs and looked over every inch of her.  Candi was most pleased with her.  The horse was a chestnut mare with a white blaze down her nose.  She stood, at her guess, about sixteen hands high.  The mare watched as she inspected her.  Candi gauged she had at least an hour before the rabbit would be ready to eat.  She climbed into the saddle Logan had left for her, and took up the reins.  She guided her away from the cabin, and down the road in the direction of the ranger station, though she didn’t go near as far.  She let the mare have her head at one point, and allowed her to stretch her legs and found out how she ran.  She wasn’t disappointed.  She put her through all her paces before she headed back to the cabin.  She dismounted and led the horse down to the shed with the cow.  All she needed to do was learn her name.

         Back in the cabin, Candi smelled the succulent aroma of the rabbit.  She tested it and found it almost ready.  She went over to the radio and called out.  “CM Alpha One to RS Tango Five.  Come in, over.”

         “This is RS Tango Five.  Come in CM Alpha One, over,” Logan said.

         “Ranger Carmichael can you tell me the name of the horse?”

         “She’s called Lightning Storm.  Do you like her?”

         “Yes.  Very much.  Thank you.”

         “How’s the rabbit coming along?”

         “Just fine.  Almost done.  Gotta go.  CM Alpha One signing off.”  Lightning Storm must have been born during a storm, she thought.

         The juices from the rabbit made a delicious gravy for the dumpling, and made the rabbit very succulent.  With the dishes out of the way, she took out her Bible and read before she went down to the shed to milk the cow, before she went to bed.

         Over the next several days she explored more of the countryside.  It was the middle of August, soon the leaves of the trees would change into all their glorious colors.

         At the moment though, the days were hot, and the nights were unbearable.  Not because of the weather but because of her dreams.  Her memories filtered into her dreams, and often she awoke in a cold sweat, crying out for help.  And the one name always on her lips was Logan’s.  She didn’t know why, he was mean and heartless, yet she was drawn to him like a moth to a flame.  And she was the moth.

         She pushed herself into her work.  She finished with all the work she had been given in record time.  She tended her garden which began to ripen.  And she hunted, all in an attempt to be so exhausted at the end of the day that she fell into bed exhausted.

         She added to her supply of firewood, getting it ready for the winter months when she wouldn’t be able to chop firewood anymore.  So she continued to work herself.

         Those were days of quietness.  She was too busy to be lonely.  Bart came by and picked up the work she had ready and brought her more.

         With his visit, she gave him a letter to take back to her parents, along with other mail, forwarded through the company.  He brought her mail from the various television ministries she used to watch, books and tapes that helped with her Christian walk.  With no television or other active means of communication, she relied on the tapes to help her in her times of trouble.  At the moment they helped in ways she didn’t at the moment understand.

********

         Bart Hampstadt walked into the office of Mr. Mills, president and CEO of Taylor & McHenry Printing and Publishing, Incorporated, and took a seat opposite him.  “I’m worried.  She’s changed since the accident, for which no one has any details.  She’s quieter, and more nervous around people.  I talked with Ranger Logan Carmichael, and didn’t learn more about the accident other than the fact he took a bullet out of her left shoulder.”

         “Do you think we should call off the experiment?  Bring her home?”

         “No. I don’t think that’s the answer either.  You’d be amazed by her.  I know that when you first told me she was going out there, I thought she was just someone who wanted to get away from everyone.  Even you didn’t think she’d last.  The grant you received to do a study in loneliness might pay off better than even you may have realized.”

         “In what way?”

         “She’s more confident with herself.  Despite her nervousness around people, she’s accomplished a lot on her own.  She’s got the cows, and chickens that you know of, and now she also has a horse.  She can hunt and skin the animals, and has them cured for the winter months.  She chops her own firewood, and has plowed a section of land to grow the necessary crops to feed her animals.  She doesn’t rely on anybody to do anything for her, other than to teach her what she doesn’t know already.  For example, Sandra Morrison, Ranger Morrison’s wife, also a ranger herself, was a good down home Iowa farm girl.  She taught our gal everything she needed to know about living off the land.  In other words, farming.”  The note of admiration Bart had in his voice for her was unmistakable.

         “I’ve known about the animals she acquired, and the lumber for the fence, the plow and the seed.  All that has gone through the ranger station with this company.  They’re the ones who call and let us know when we need to send you out to pick up her work.”  Mr. Mills looked down at the amount of finished work she had sent along on that trip.  It was much more than he had expected.  Three assignments that he expected to take no less than three months to complete, and she had completed them inside a month’s time.  He had only sent out one assignment with Bart, and with what he held in his hands it was likely he would have it back for quote inside a month.  “I think I’d like to go along on your next trip to see her.”

         “Her parents made the same request.”

         “We may need a bigger plane for the trip.”

         “Do you think it’s wise for so many people to go out there?”

         “Something’s worrying you.”

         “I can’t put my finger on it.  It’s just her.  I don’t think she’s ready for so many people at one time.”

         “Then we’d better let her know ahead of time.  We’ll go next week.  I’m sure she’ll have that assignment ready by then.  I’ll bring her enough for the next month.”

         “Very good.  I’ll let the Martin’s know that we’ll be going in a week’s time.”  Bart stood to his feet, and left the office.

********

         Logan looked at his watch when he received the call from Mr. Mills that he as well as her parents would arrive in a week’s time.  Seven a.m.  He told him he would relay the message.  He also knew that she wouldn’t welcome it.  How he knew that he wasn’t certain, except that she valued her independence and held onto it with all her might.

         He had been watching the cabin since the incident with the three miners.  She had attacked her work with a vengeance.  Sandra had shown her how to plow, and she had a section of land planted with oats and another with hay.  Though it was the middle of August there was still time to harvest one crop of hay and oats.  The corn would have to wait until the following year.

         He watched her leave on her horse when she went hunting and admired her horsemanship abilities.  He had also seen the kill she had come home with and knew she was also a skilled hunter, as she had claimed.

         He knew she was in the cabin at the moment.  She had already been for her early morning swim, and had taken care of the cow.  That had been a couple hours ago.  He had seen her in the river just after sun up.  He also noticed Rascal had been let out and brought back in.

         The door opened and she stood on the porch.  She looked toward the tower.  It was as if she knew he watched her.  She walked down the steps, and soon had Lightning Storm saddled.  He watched as she rode out.  It wasn’t a hunt, she hadn’t taken her rifle.  He would have to wait until she returned before he could let her know she was about to have company.

         He took his mind off her.  More and more he found his mind occupied by her.  She had called him mean.  And perhaps he had been.  He had been angry when he had seen her cow in the condition it had been.  He admired her when she had told him she wouldn’t quit.  And except for the one time when she called to learn how to skin the rabbit, he hadn’t been near the cabin.  Maybe he should go over and give her the message in person.  Then he thought better of it.  She wouldn’t welcome him any more than she would the message.

         He trained his binoculars over the rest of the countryside and saw nothing out of the ordinary.  He had the usual paperwork to do before Ken and Andy would arrive for their duty, and sat behind the desk to get it done.

         The fax machine sounded behind him and he reached over and took up the weather report for the day.  It would be another nice day with showers toward evening.  He set the paperwork aside, finished, and took up the binoculars again.  He wished not for the first time that the ranger service would allow more rangers at the station.  It was difficult for just the four of them.  They each pulled twelve hour shifts.  If there were at least two more rangers his time wouldn’t be so limited.

         He asked Stan about it, and had been told that it wasn’t in the budget for their station. If they needed help badly enough there was another station to the south in Elk City that could help out.  But that usually happened only in the crisis times of forest fires.  Then every station was on alert.  They also pulled together to find lost hikers, which happened at least two to three times a summer.  So far they hadn’t had a lost hiker in their region, but the summer wasn’t over yet.

         He looked over at the cabin and saw her return.  She walked the horse down to the shed where she was with her for quite some time.  The time had come for him to call her.

         It was several minutes after she entered the cabin before he took up the hand-set and called her.  “RS Tango Five to CM Alpha One, come in, over.”

         “This is CM Alpha One, come in RS Tango Five, over.”

         “Just wanted to let you know I received a call from Mr. Mills this morning.  He’ll be flying out here with your parents next Thursday.”

         “Did he say why the visit?”

         There it was.  He could hear the fear in her voice.  “Mr. Mills is bringing you more work, and he wants to see how you’re faring.  He said your parents are worried about you and have asked to come out and see you as well.”

         “Thanks for the information.  I’ll be ready for the visit.  CM Alpha One signing off.”

         Candi put the hand-set down and went back to her study of the wildlife books.  She nearly had them memorized.  She knew the tracks of every animal familiar to those parts, and their habits.  She had just returned from a small excursion, where she looked for tracks of animals and tested herself to see if she recognized them from what she had studied.  She had seen the tracks of rabbit, lynx, bear, and coyote.  She was amazed that she could tell the difference between the lynx and the coyote.  They were very similar.  She was also surprised that she had seen so many different prints that morning.  She would have to go out later and see what she could bring home.  She knew what time of day was best to hunt, and where they were most likely to be at certain times of the day.  That had come in handy as she added to her daily supply of winter meat.

         She stood to her feet and went down to the river to check on her latest kill.  She had found a way to cure her game with the aid of the river, or rather the chill of the river.  She had constructed a refrigeration box fashioned out of a sheet of metal she found during a hunt one afternoon.  Believing it to be from one of the mines, she adapted it and fashioned it into a large enough box able to hold a good sized bear or several smaller animals.  When they were cured, she took them to the hut and smoked the meat.  The hut was quite warm, as she entered the smoke filled interior to check on the bear she had shot a few days before.  There were also several small rabbits.  She remembered the deer tracks from her morning excursion, and saw the direction it had gone.  She would love to add some venison to her diet.  Maybe she would serve it to her guests in a week’s time.

         Over the next week she got the cabin all spruced and ready for the visit of her parents and her boss, Mr. Mills.  She was amazed to find how much she actually looked forward to the visit.  It had to happen sooner or later.  And she was quite proud of her accomplishments.  She just hoped her parents would be as well.